Friday, November 29, 2013

Chinese women coming to America for "Birth Tourism."

Jiang Wenjun was getting ready to go to America. His wife, due to
give birth to their son any day, was already there. Like any expectant
parents, the Shanghai couple agonized over how best to prepare for the
arrival — and upbringing — of their firstborn child. American
citizenship, they decided, was one of the finest gifts they could
bestow. “America is the strongest country in the world,” says Jiang,
whose son was born just days after he eventually arrived in California this month. “We want our child to have the best future.”
The U.S. is one of the few nations where simply being born on its
soil confers citizenship on a newborn. That policy has spawned a
birth-tourism industry, in which pregnant foreigners flock to American hospitals
to secure U.S. passports for their babies. Although the foreign couple
can’t acquire U.S. nationality themselves, once their American-born
offspring turn 21 they can theoretically sponsor their parents for
future U.S. citizenship. Another perk: these American-born kids can take
advantage of the U.S. education system, even paying lower in-state fees
for public universities, depending on where they were delivered.
(California is a popular birth-tourism destination because of its
well-known university system.)